# Volleyball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The women's tournament in volleyball at the 2004 Summer Olympics was the eleventh edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body, the FIVB in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee. It was held at the Peace and Friendship Stadium located at the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex between 14 and 28 August 2004.
The medals for the competition were presented by Henri Sérandour, France; Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, Hong Kong; and Els van Breda Vriesman, Netherlands; IOC Members, and the medalists' bouquets were presented by Jizhong Wei, People's Republic of China; FIVB 1st Vice-President, Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, Dominican Republic; FIVB Vice President, and Aleksandar Boričić, Serbia and Montenegro; FIVB Board-Administration Member.

## Competition schedule

| P | Preliminary round | ¼ | Quarterfinals | ½ | Semifinals | B | Bronze medal match | F | Final |
| Sat 14 | Sun 15 | Mon 16 | Tue 17 | Wed 18 | Thu 19 | Fri 20 | Sat 21 | Sun 22 | Mon 23 | Tue 24 | Tue 24 | Wed 25 | Wed 25 | Thu 26 | Thu 26 | Fri 27 | Sat 28 | Sat 28 |
| P | | P | | P | | P | | P | | ¼ | ¼ | | | ½ | ½ | | B | F |

## Qualification

| Qualifiers | Date | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
| Host Country | 5 September 1997 | Lausanne | 1 | Greece |
| 2003 Women's World Cup | 1–15 November 2003 | Japan | 3 | China |
| 2003 Women's World Cup | 1–15 November 2003 | Japan | 3 | Brazil |
| 2003 Women's World Cup | 1–15 November 2003 | Japan | 3 | United States |
| European Qualification | 5–10 January 2004 | Baku, Azerbaijan | 1 | Germany |
| North American Qualification | 15–21 December 2003 | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | 1 | Cuba |
| South American Qualification | 9–11 January 2004 | Caracas, Venezuela | 1 | Dominican Republic* |
| African Qualification | 7–10 January 2004 | Nairobi, Kenya | 1 | Kenya |
| Asian Qualification | 8–16 May 2004 | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | South Korea |
| 2004 Olympic Qualification Tournament | 8–16 May 2004 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | Japan |
| 2004 Olympic Qualification Tournament | 8–16 May 2004 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | Russia |
| 2004 Olympic Qualification Tournament | 8–16 May 2004 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | Italy |
| Total | Total | Total | 12 | Source:FIVB |
* Dominican Republic is associated at the NORCECA (North America and Caribbean), but entered the South American Qualification as only three South American countries competed at the continental qualification. The country won a wildcard after win the gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games.

## Format

The tournament was played in two different stages. In the Preliminary round (first stage), the twelve participants were divided into two pools of six teams. A single round-robin format was played within each pool to determine the teams position in the pool. The four highest ranked teams in each pool advanced to the Final round (second stage) and the two lowest ranked teams took no further participation (with pool places 5th and 6th being ranked in the final standings as joined 9th and 11th, respectively).
The Final round was played in a single elimination format, starting at the quarterfinals, winners advanced to the semifinals while losers were eliminated (ranked at standings as joined 5th).

## Pools composition

Teams were seeded following the Serpentine system according to their ranking as of January 2004.
| Pool A | Pool B |
| Greece (hosts) | Cuba (1st) |
| Brazil (3rd) | China (2nd) |
| Italy (4th) | Dominican Republic |
| Japan | Germany |
| Kenya | Russia |
| South Korea | United States |

## Venue

* All matches
* , Piraeus, Greece
* Peace and Friendship Stadium
* Capacity: 10,520

## Preliminary round

* All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3:00).

### Pool A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Brazil | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 2 | 7.500 | 410 | 326 | 1.258 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Italy | 5 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 4.667 | 392 | 305 | 1.285 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | South Korea | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 1.286 | 355 | 352 | 1.009 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Japan | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 0.600 | 346 | 343 | 1.009 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Greece | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 0.417 | 349 | 383 | 0.911 | |
| 6 | Kenya | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 0.000 | 236 | 379 | 0.623 | |

### Pool B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | China | 5 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 3.500 | 429 | 346 | 1.240 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Russia | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 1.375 | 426 | 388 | 1.098 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Cuba | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 1.100 | 443 | 460 | 0.963 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | United States | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 1.100 | 472 | 467 | 1.011 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Germany | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 0.636 | 387 | 414 | 0.935 | |
| 6 | Dominican Republic | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 0.214 | 334 | 416 | 0.803 | |

## Final round

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final |
| 24 August | 24 August | | | |
| Brazil | 3 | | | |
| Brazil | 3 | 26 August | 26 August | | |
| United States | 2 | 26 August | 26 August | |
| United States | 2 | Brazil | 2 | |
| 24 August | 24 August | | Brazil | 2 | |
| 24 August | 24 August | Russia | 3 | |
| South Korea | 0 | Russia | 3 | |
| South Korea | 0 | | | | 28 August | 28 August |
| Russia | 3 | | | | 28 August | 28 August |
| Russia | 3 | | | | China | 3 |
| 24 August | 24 August | | | | | China | 3 |
| 24 August | 24 August | | | | Russia | 2 |
| Italy | 2 | | | | Russia | 2 |
| Italy | 2 | 26 August | 26 August | | | |
| Cuba | 3 | 26 August | 26 August | | | |
| Cuba | 3 | Cuba | 2 | | | |
| 24 August | 24 August | | Cuba | 2 | | | |
| 24 August | 24 August | China | 3 | | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| Japan | 0 | China | 3 | | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| Japan | 0 | | | | 28 August | 28 August |
| China | 3 | | | | 28 August | 28 August |
| China | 3 | | | | Cuba | 3 |
| | | | | | Brazil | 1 |

### Gold medal match
## Final standings

| Place | Team |
| | China |
| | Russia |
| | Cuba |
| 4 | Brazil |
| 5 | Italy |
| 5 | Japan |
| 5 | South Korea |
| 5 | United States |
| 9 | Germany |
| 9 | Greece |
| 11 | Dominican Republic |
| 11 | Kenya |
* 2004 Women's Olympic champions
* China 2nd title
* 12-woman roster
* Feng Kun (c), Yang Hao, Liu Yanan, Li Shan, Zhou Suhong, Zhao Ruirui, Zhang Yuehong, Chen Jing, Song Nina, Wang Lina, Zhang Na (L), Zhang Ping
* Head coach
* Chen Zhonghe

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| China (CHN)Feng Kun (c) Yang Hao Liu Yanan Li Shan Zhou Suhong Zhao Ruirui Zhang Yuehong Chen Jing Song Nina Wang Lina Zhang Na (L) Zhang Ping Head coach: Chen Zhonghe | Russia (RUS)Irina Tebenikhina Elena Tyurina (L) Lioubov Chachkova Natalya Safronova Evgeniya Artamonova (c) Elizaveta Tishchenko Olga Chukanova Ekaterina Gamova Marina Sheshenina Alexandra Korukovets Elena Plotnikova Olga Nikolaeva Head coach: Nikolay Karpol | Cuba (CUB) Zoila Barros Rosir Calderón Nancy Carrillo Ana Fernández Maybelis Martínez Liana Mesa Anniara Muñoz Yahima Ortiz Daymi Ramirez Yumilka Ruíz (c) Marta Sánchez Dulce Téllez Head coach: Luis Calderon |

## Awards

* Most valuable player
    Feng Kun (CHN)
* Best scorer
    Ekaterina Gamova (RUS)
* Best spiker
    Zhang Ping (CHN)
* Best blocker
    Ekaterina Gamova (RUS)
* Best server
    Zoila Barros (CUB)
* Best digger
    Stacy Sykora (USA)
* Best setter
    Feng Kun (CHN)
* Best receiver
    Zhang Na (CHN)